What Lightroom data is stored in the catalog vs. XMP sidecar files?
Asked 1/19/2011
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I have Lightroom set to automatically write changes to XMP. Because I sometimes delete and recreate catalogs while refining my workflow, I want to understand what information is safe in XMP and what is stored only in the Lightroom catalog. If I delete a catalog, which edits or metadata will remain with the image, and which organizational data will be lost?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
15y ago
2 Answers
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The XMP sidecar will store data about a specific image, such as (but not limited to):
- keywords
- title
- caption
- ratings / colors
- geoencoding
The Lightroom catalog file stores data about your organization of images. Such data might be:
- the file/folder locations for your images
- collections / smart collections
- stacks
- workflow steps, such as whether an image has been uploaded to an online service
- other data added to a catalog by third-party plugins
Hopefully this helps clear up what data can be stored in XMP vs. what needs to be stored in the catalog. Of course, one big distinction is that data in the catalog is specific to Lightroom, while data in a XMP sidecar file can be read by any application which reads XMP.
Originally by user89. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user89
15y ago
0
Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.
XMP sidecars store metadata tied to an individual image. Based on the answers, that can include things like keywords, title, caption, ratings/color labels, geotagging, and image-specific adjustment metadata.
The Lightroom catalog stores Lightroom-specific organizational information, such as:
- where Lightroom thinks files/folders are located
- collections and smart collections
- stacks
- workflow/state info, such as whether an image was published or uploaded
- data added by some third-party plugins
So if you delete a catalog, you generally keep image-level metadata and adjustments that were written to XMP, but you lose Lightroom-only organization and workflow data that lives in the catalog.
A useful rule of thumb: XMP travels with the image and can often be read by other software; catalog data is mainly Lightroom’s internal database for managing and organizing your library.
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